Camera Phones Plaza

It has been over a year since the Sony Ericsson W200i model was launched. If you expect this phone to shake hands with the other great phones than you are crazy. W200i is included in the entry-level class phones.

The entry-level or low-range is the group in which it fits any mobile phone whose technical specifications are modest or even very modest. The entry-level phones will be for an audience that does not want from their phone anything but to make calls, send messages or make any other simple action that does not need too much "brain".

This is the case of Sony Ericsson W200i, which although is classified as an entry-level, it is much smarter than other phones in this class, the phone managing to duel with some mid-range class terminals.

That being said, we now get to test on the terminal. Sony Ericsson W200i is a "candybar" which measures 101 x 44 x 18 mm and weighs only 85 grams. This model is not the most compact phone on the market, but it is quite small. The front side is occupied by the screen, the D-pad and by the standard alphanumeric keypad.

W200i's screen has only 1.8 inches, a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels and 65,000 colors. Above the screen, we find the Sony Ericsson logo and the phone speaker. Under the screen, we have the very simple D-pad, composed of joystick, keys corresponding to the submenus Calls and Menu, and under them the keys Return and Cancel (C). When you want to call somebody the Calls and the Menu button change to Call button and the More button for saving contacts, and later, the Menu button becomes the Stop / Reject call button.

Under the D-pad, we find the standard alphanumeric keypad. The buttons are strung on four lines, are convex, and typing a number or a message can be done very easily. Under these keys, we find a Walkman logo. The sides are not loaded with phone control buttons. On the left side, we find a button dedicated to the music player and a microSD card slot. On the right side, we find the volume control buttons and just another Walkman logo. On the bottom side, we find the slot for attaching peripherals, such as headphones, charger and USB cable. The top side presents just the phone's On / Off button and the infrared sensor.

The phone's back side is also poorly. Here we have the VGA camera, and two Sony Ericsson and Walkman logos. Under the phone's back cover, we find the standard Lithium - Ion battery, which in theory, it resists up to 300 hours in standby mode and up to 7 hours in talk time. The SIM card slot is also under the battery.

Although it is an entry-level phone, Sony Ericsson W200i is a Walkman. That means it is a music phone. Normally, such a phone should have a large storage space, but the phone comes with only 27 MB of internal memory. However, for upgrade, the W200i has a microSD card slot, and can extend the memory up to 1 GB, that means it has the same capacity, which many music players still have. The phone's package box comes with a 125 MB microSD card.

The menu is the standard Sony Ericsson menu, with matrix style icons 4 / 3, but this can be changed from the settings in a list style. The phone themes can be changed with the few themes that Sony Ericsson W200i has installed, but there are enough communities on the internet that make themes for these phones.

W200i supports SMS, MMS and even e-mail or instant messaging. SMS and MMS messages are received in a common inbox and e-mails into a separate inbox. The e-mail supports standard protocols IMAP and POP3.

The fact that W200i has e-mail is slightly surprising, because on the connectivity chapter, Sony Ericsson W200i only has GPRS connectivity, and this means a very low speed. It is true that at its "brain" it cannot handle more, but let us say that for quick e-mail checking, W200i can handle it. For surfing the internet, the phone uses the WAP 2.0, xHTML and HTML (NetFront) browsers. It is not recommended, however, such attempts. A man's patience has limits.

We move on and we reach the camera, which has no pretensions of megapixels. All Sony Ericsson W200i can do is to take pictures at VGA resolution of 640 x 480 pixel. You will use the camera in case of "major" emergencies and only when you have a subject in good light and near you, otherwise it is worthless. You can apply effects like black and white or negative to the images. However, W200i's VGA camera can record videos that can be made at a resolution of 176 x 144 pixels or 128 x 96 pixels. Moreover, the phone has the function "night mode" and the effects mentioned above.

As I said earlier, Sony Ericsson W200i is a Walkman. The music player is a Walkman Media Player 1.0 that supports MP3 and AAC. In the package, the phone comes with its own headphones, which play a good quality sound, but not a great one. The speakers are in the same situation, but you cannot ask for more from such a phone. However, the Walkman Media Player has equalizer functions including the famous Mega Bass that all Walkman phones have. The player will automatically sort the songs according to the artist, the album or the genre.

It is clear that this phone will not be liked by a technology passionate, but W200i's buzzing brain will impress you. At how small it is, the phone still remains one of the most intelligent entry-level phones we find on the market. If you are looking for a modest and easy to handle phone, than Sony Ericsson W200i is perfect. It comes in enough colors, so the choice will be more than simple.